Haifa, King Solomon Street

Yossi Salomon

15/05/2005

Final Report

During July 1997 a salvage excavation was conducted in a burial cave, which was exposed after being damaged by a backhoe (Permit No. A-2710*; map ref. NIG 197215–76/745183–257; OIG 147215–76/245183–257), at the corner of King Solomon and Zeviyya Yizhaq Streets, near the Newe David cemetery. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, was directed by Y. Solomon, with the assistance of A. Cobani (surveying) and Y. Nagar (physical anthropology).

The cave was entered via a shaft (width 0.7 m, depth 0.5 m; Fig. 1) that descended to a main burial chamber (length 3.1 m, width 2.2 m) and a small niche (length 1.1 m, width 0.6 m) to its north. The main chamber and the niche were severely damaged by a trench dug across them from north to south.

Fragments of two teapots, characteristic of the Intermediate Bronze Age (Early Bronze Age IV; Fig. 2), were recovered from the eastern side of the chamber. Osteological remains were scattered across the floor and found in the fill that accumulated in the chamber. Analysis of the bones indicated they belonged to a single adult individual. The fill in the chamber and the shaft also contained numerous microliths that were apparently swept into the cave along with the alluvium that originated from the prehistoric settlement of Newe David, located at the outlet of Nahal Ezov (Wadi Siyah)

The cave, probably plundered in antiquity, was part of a large burial complex that extended to the foot of Mount Carmel, between Nahal Ezov and Nahal Ahuzza. Other burial caves from the Intermediate Bronze Age were revealed in the region; most of them were plundered during the Roman–Byzantine period.